Rejection is Real
by Closet-Monsters
Summary: Throwing my SasuNaru fic in with the vast sea of them. Do not read if you do not like to wait for the romance. R&R is nice. Multiple pairings- Shonen-ai &Het.(Ch4)
1. Ch1

Here's how it works with our stories. Redd gets an idea, Monster says 'Why not?', and then what I've written goes through editing and then I type up a finished project. Thank you, Monster, for your help.

I've finally decided to throw my SasuNaru fic in with the big collection of them. I am hoping to develop a good plot and to be able to keep at writing this fic. If I dont get tired of this fic, it will update at least once every week. Your reviews help encourage us a bunch, though I don't really expect them.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, it is the wonderful creation of Masashi Kishimoto. However, the plot and full story idea belongs to Redd(me) and Monster.

'Rejection is Real' by closet-monsters

The weather was NOT great in Konoha; it was raining. Not the kind of rain you'd go out and dance in, but the kind of rain that could put dents in thin metals. Every shop had a couple sensible people in it that had sought for shelter when the sky dropped its load.

Hatake Kakashi was not a sensible person.

The Jhounin now had his underlings -ahem- 'students' on clean-up duty in the village. When the rain came, Kakashi had just quickly put away his book, folded his arms, and said "Carry on."

Sakura was squealing about being bruised from the rain, Sasuke was giving his teacher a hateful glare, and Naruto was running his mouth.

"Sensei, why cant we just have the rain wash away the litter? The river would carry it off somewhere else then!" The blonde whined as he draped his orange jacket around Sakura's shoulders.

"Idiot!" Sakura scolded him, drawing the coat around herself, though not giving one word of thanks. "The little in the river would cause the death of lots of wild life. Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't respond, either because the rain smothered his teammate's voice or he just didn't want to. Naruto assumed it was the latter. Sakura was obviously in love with Sasuke, but the jerk wouldn't acknowledge her presence most of the time, much less answer a question.

Naruto didnt understand. He himself loved Sakura, would have done anything for her, and yet she was fawning over a guy that treated her like dirt. That jerk. The irony was tearing up from the inside.

Sasuke bent over and casually picked up a stray aluminum can, glancing over his shoulder to connect vision with a pair of glaring blue eyes.

"What do you want, dobe?" He asked, tone ringing out a challenge. Naruto's glare grew impossibly harsher at the name; Sasuke knew just how to piss him off.

"I'm going to pick up more trash than you." The blonde stated, snatching up a peice of paper and shoving it into his trash bag for emphasis. He earned a snort and acknowledging smirk in return, as well as a 'Yeah, right' comment. Sakura sighed and just sat to the side as the boys zoomed about the area, collecting trash.

Kakashi liked it when the rivals fought, as it got work done much faster and he himself did not have to get his hamds dirty. Sakura had this advantage as well, he observed.

Soon, two equally wet boys shoved two over-stuffed trash bags rudely under the silver-haired man's nose.

"Sensei, which one weighs more? Bastard Sasuke thinks he collected more trash than me, peh!" Naruto spoke for the both of them. Kakashi's one eye blinked lazily at them. The two boys were soaked to the bone from both rain and sweat; dark hair plastered to a pale face as well as blonde hair to a tan one. Both looked like drowned rats about to pass out from exhaustion.

"They both weigh the same," their teacher informed them after picking both trash bags up. "But at least our mission is complete. Class dismissed."

Naruto's jaw was hanging, but then he finally perked up when Kakashi dismissed the team.

"Anou, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto grinned towards Sakura, making the girl with bubble-gum colored hair groan inwardly. "Want to go to lunch with me and get out of this rain?"

"Please, Naruto, I'd rather gag on a spoon. Here, take your jacket." She shoved the coat into the boy's hands. The blonde frowned dejectedly, shuffling his feet. "But what about you, Sasuke-kun? Are you free?"

"No." He grumbled in reply, making Sakura's face screw up much like Naruto's.

"Okay, well, see you." Sakura began walking.

"Bye, Sakura, be safe." Naruto called, sighing before he slipped on his jacket.

".... Come on, dead last; let's get out of this rain. I'll buy you a bowl of ramen." The stoic boy finally mumbled. Naruto had half the mind to tell him off, but just nodded and put on a grin at the mention of ramen.

And it wasn't just one bowl either. Naruto had just finished his second bowl of miso ramen before he acknowledged Sasuke.

"How come you told Sakura you weren't free to take her to lunch?" He asked.

"Because I wasn't; I was taking you to lunch." The other replied, as if it were obvious.

"Sakura might have said 'yes' to my offer."

"Let's not kid ourselves."

"Look," Naruto growled, ignoring his next bowl of ramen for the moment. "She might just like me if it wasn't for you. She really likes you, man."

"Her and every other girl in Konoha," Sasuke retorted.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Sasuke. Not every girl can be under the major mind-fuck you pull on them." The fox boy grumbled, though he knew it was probably true and tried to drown out the thought with ramen broth. Sasuke said nothing in return. Instead, he stared intently at the blonde shinobi occupied by gulping down his ramen. After moments of cold silence, he finally did speak.

"Look, Naruto. I dont hate Sakura, but she's just going through a phase and I'm not going to go along with it." He sighed. "She barely knows about me, and even if I told her she wouldn't understand or would just shun me straight off. Do you see what I'm saying? I'm just her little childhood crush she'll talk about when she's older."

"Yeah, whatever. Thanks for lunch, Sasuke." Naruto mumbled, getting up to leave. And Sasuke let him go, though he was clenching his fists tightly and his lower lip was bleeding from the fact he had bitten it as a sort of punishment.

"Baka," He commented to himself. He had meant to talk about other things, but he had ended up arguing about Sakura. Always Sakura. Why did he have to always play the role of the bad guy? He paid for Naruto's meal then left.

-------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Naruto got home, he stripped himself of his wet clothes and took a hot shower; no sense in him getting a cold. In fact, he hadn't had a cold in years for some reason. His first thought was Kyuubi, but then again, he'd never been near any sort of disease-ridden body or stayed out in the rain without having a warm shower afterwards.

The words from earlier raced through his head as well as images. First, there was Sakura telling him off and then there was Sasuke taking him in and buying him lunch. He never had thought of Sasuke as a very nice person, yet his rival had bought him lunch. A pity thing, he supposed. The thought made him tense up and growl; he didn't want pity or sympathy, he wanted Sakura.

It made him so mad, how Sasuke could just shrug the girl off like nothing. He listened to Sasuke's bitter words play across his mind.

She's just going through a phase I'm not going to support. I'm just her childhood crush she'll talk about when she's older.

Something like that, yeah. Was Sakura just some childhood crush of his? No, that couldn't be true; he loved this girl more than that...didn't he? Hold that thought, the water's getting cold! Naruto turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, running a towel through his hair before wrapping it around his waste. He made his way towards his room lazily, itching spots that needed scratching on the way and kicking empty ramen cups out of his way. After slipping into pajamas, he lay on his bed and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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Sasuke could not sleep even if he'd wanted to. Unlike Naruto, when the Uchiha had mixed emotions he did not sleep well, he wrote in a journal. Ha ha, so funny, the thirteen year-old prodigy wrote in a journal. Really, writing things down was not only a good stress reliever, but it was also interesting to look back at your entries when you got older. Sasuke now drew out a pen and began to scribble.

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Yamanaka Ino not only took pleasure in watching her rival being turned down by the village heart-throb, but she also felt it in her duty to inform Sakura as to just who Sasuke had decided to take to lunch instead.

"Naruto?" Sakura clenched her fists. "Oh, I bet he had Sasuke in on it." Just what she was suggesting, not even the author of this story is sure, but she somehow had the idea Naruto was conspirisizing against her because she wouldn't go on a date with him. "Thanks for telling me, Ino-pig. I'll 'talk' with Naruto."

Ino smiled slightly, knowing her old friend meant she was going to clobber the boy. "No problem, big-forehead Sakura." The blonde nodded and walked off. It was Ino that saw the three shapes of people walking towards the village too. Only lingering for a moment, she made out the forms of three people that absolutely terrified her. There was that one blonde chick, toting the large fan. Next to her came the twit with the face paint that played with dolls. And then there was Gaara of the desert. As soon as she was sure it was them, she went sprinting off towards Hokage Tsunade's dwelling... and smacked into a pole, knocking her out.

TBC

I finished up the first chapter and am waiting for feedback. Thanks for your time and spoiler warning for thoughs who have not kept up to date with the manga all the way up to 238 probably in the next chapter.


	2. Ch2

Thank you thank you everyone for the reviews! We had a little trouble with finding out how to undo the blocking of anonymous reviews, but that's fixed now. Thanks again for alerting us, demonesse and thanks for our first review.'

Another thing we had trouble with was the length of the chapters. Not only were the paragraphs squished together but alot of the marks made did not show through, such as the cut-off of different scenes as well as our pen name o.o Terribly sorry about that. Also made sure I wrote more than I did last time, so hopefully you'll have to scroll a bit this time. That's all from the OOC, Monster has yet to give many of his comments to add so for now all he does is edit the stories. Your time appreciated.-Redd

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Blah, we own the story idea.

-

"Rejection is Real" Ch.2 by closet-monsters

"Remind me WHY we're coming back, again." Walking towards Konoha came three of Sand's best nins. The one who had spoken was a tall, broad shouldered boy wearing a hat that made him look much like a cat. On his back he carried a human-shaped object wrapped in bandages with a tuft of black hair sticking out of the top; his face was also smeared with purple gunk. Kankuro.

"Because," said the blonde, Temari, "We have unfinished business here. You are the only one who's against coming back."

"Oh, I know why you're here," Kankuro smirked, "You're here because all the boys in the village are scared of you! I don't really blame them, either." Temari twitched and might have done some damage if she hadn't been interrupted.

"We are here because of those Sound nins we saw coming towards Konoha. Now that the Kazekage is dead, we have no reason to be against the Leafs... Besides, I said so," grunted an annoyed Sabaku no Gaara, who was looking just as scary from when they left. "Stop here. We will camp outside the village until we are sure those nins are just passing through." The red-haired boy shifted the massive gourd on his back before unbuckling it, then finally taking it off. "I owe the Leafs a great debt."

--

Ino was floating in a vast space of nothing. Bubbles rose about her in great columns and produced little fish, which began to swim about her head. The scene caused her to giggle and reach out for them, trying to touch their golden fins. And then she slowly came to realize... she couldn't breathe.

Dark eyes dully watched as Ino sat up, gasping and clutching her throat. Just where was she?

"Welcome back, have a nice nap?" Came a voice beside her, making the blonde jump. Whipping her head around, she came face to face with a very bored Nara Shikamaru. She could've slapped him then, for scaring her.

"Cut the crap Shikamaru. Where am I and did you get the name of the unlucky bastard that knocked me out?" She growled instead.

"Even I wouldn't have slept in the streets..." He continued on until he say Ino balling her fists up. "How troublesome. Ino, no one hit you; you ran into a pole at a full run. You are at my house. You've been sleeping since yesterday." Ino flushed crimson at what her teammate had just said. "What were you running from, anyways?" Shikamaru asked, watching her for any random spouts of rage.

"I..." The information was there, but it slipped away from her when she grasped for it, giving her head a dull throbbing instead. "I can't remember." She responded sheepishly.

"Amnesia, I thought as much." Shikamaru nodded sagely. "How troublesome." Ino twitched, reached out, and delivered a nice smack to the side of his head for good measure.

"You ALWAYS say that! I know it's troublesome without you telling me so, okay? For chrissakes I just ran into a friggin' pole and here I am getting a lecture-" She was cut off as another wave of throbbing pain struck her head, then everything went black.

Shikamaru watched it all. Ino had stopped in mid-bitch and her eyes had rolled upward, flutter and close. After that her whole body collapsed, making her fall forwards. Luckily, it wasn't too 'troublesome' to catch her body.

"Fatigue," He commented to himself, "Probably the best thing that's happened all day."

---

Sakura tapped her foot impatiently on the wood make-up of the bridge. Where was Kakashi? Late again, she supposed. She didn't know why she didn't just come at a later time herself; at least she wouldn't have to wait as long then. Naruto was performing a sort of balancing act on the railing of the bridge. Arms stretched out to his side, he looked as if he were pretending to be a tightrope walker. Blue eyes glanced to the side at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, lookit meeee!" He called to his crush, now hopping on one foot. Show off; Sakura wasn't even looking his way. Some one else was, though. From the shadows, a pair of predatory onyx eyes observed the blonde. Oh, yes, now was the perfect time for the Uchiha to strike. He'd been plotting for the last five minutes on how he'd do it, of course. Giving Naruto a little shove in the wrong direction would not only get Sasuke the chance to see him wet, but it'd also allow him to keep his reputation.

Silently he began to creep forward. Good, he thought, Naruto's back is turned and Sakura in ignoring this direction entirely. Just a little further...

"Good morning everyone! Sorry I'm late. You see, there was a huge traffic jam in the bookstore this morning..." The silver-haired Kakashi had just appeared in front f Naruto on the bridge and he was already making up excuses. A loud yelp of surprise came from Naruto. He began to wobble, flailing his arms with hopes they'd become wings in the next .2 seconds as the blonde went careening off the bridge. Sasuke made a grab for him, but a splash below told him that he was too late.

"Liar!" Naruto yelled from the water, swimming like mad for the shore. Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, you alright?" Sakura asked, watching from afar the scene of the raven-haired boy twitching and glaring daggers at the back of Kakashi's head; a whole plot's down the drain because of that _child_ of a sensei.

"Mind your business," Sasuke mumbled back to Sakura, putting on a smirk when Naruto came dripping towards them across the bridge. "Have a nice swim, dobe?"

Naruto gave him a venomous look, much like that of a wet cat's. "You know what Sasuke? Go burn in he-"

"Today," Kakashi interrupted, "We will be...doing nothing."

"What?!" Naruto screamed, anger quickly turning. "You almost drown me and then you tell us-"

"I'm kidding." His teacher said quickly, though obviously put out. "Today we are on graffiti duty; something you should be used to, Naruto."

Both the blonde and Sasuke looked set to kill; just how was that funny?! Sakura noticed and quickly rushed between the boys and their blissfully oblivious sensei, smiling. "Okay, let's get this over with. Why don't you come work with me, Sasuke? We'll get the work done much faster." She didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed her angry crush by the arm and hauled him off. This snapped Naruto out of his rage and he began to run after them.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, what about meee?" He whined, glaring death at Sasuke at the same time. Kakashi wondered just where they were off to, but followed curiously after them.

The pink-haired genin came to a stop at a small wall right next to the ramen house. "Here's some graffiti. Will this do, sensei?"

"That'll be fine," Kakashi's visible eye arched. "You should use hot, soapy water... or Naruto's drool."

Sasuke and Sakura looked over to see the said blonde quite literally drooling at the ramen bar across the street.

"Naruto! Stop fantasizing and come help us!" Sakura yelled. Her voice scared off all the little cups of steaming ramen dancing in Naruto's mind, causing him to give her annoyed look.

"I'll get the hot water," he volunteered. Sure, why not? That'd also give him a chance to mooch off the ramen chef, who knew he was a regular; typical Naruto. The fox-boy set out in an all-out sprint for the ramen bar.

"Just you and me now, Sasuke-kuun." Sakura giggled, clinging to his neck. Sasuke rolled his eyes and stared hopelessly up at Kakashi, whose nose was buried in that perverted book of his. Great, Sasuke was about to be raped and molested while his sensei giggled over porn.

"Naruto will see." He mumbled quickly, trying to throw off her concentration. Didn't work. If anything, it seemed to spur her on.

"So? Let him see! Maybe then he'll take the hint and leave me alone." She scoffed. Suddenly, those green eyes of hers widened and she grabbed Sasuke's face roughly in both her hands. Before he knew what was happening, their lips were being crushed together in a kiss. Oh Kami, Sakura had fallen off her rocker and rolled away from sanity...or had she. A loud THUNK! came from behind him, then next the sound of gushing water. Sasuke struggled to look over his shoulder to see what was happening.

When he finally did get the chance to pull away, he turned around and looked in the direction of the sound. All he saw was a red bucket, laying on its side, seeping the last of what looked like soapy water on the ground.

"Finally! Maybe now he'll leave me alone; that kiss wasn't bad either." Sakura commented, now blushing a lovely shade of pink.

Sasuke pushed her away, giving her a disgusted look. When he tried to walk away, but the scarecrow, Kakashi, blocked him.

"I don't see the wall clean yet. You may leave when the work is done, Sasuke, only then." He mumbled, flipping a page of his book. The Uchiha growled, but decided against doing something rash to follow Naruto, so he just stalked back to Sakura.

----

The door to Naruto's apartment was thrown violently open. It's owner came stomping in soon after, spitting curses. He tore of his jacket and tossed it across the room, kicking the door shut with the same movement. All alone now, everything was dark. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, the fox-boy picked his way through the ramen cups and threw himself on his bed. He broke down.

"Why me? Why did I have to be the one stuck with the damn Kyuubi? Baka Sasuke, bastard Sasuke! He dared lecture me on childhood crushes yesterday and yet he turns his back on me and snogs the girl he knows I like right in front of me! All his fault. " He buried his head into his pillow, shoulders heaving up and down as he cried. Something stirred inside of him, making him twitch violently. The seal on his stomach was beginning to pulse.

"No! I hate you worse, don't you dare come out. I don't need you right now, I hate you!" He growled, punching himself in the stomach. Smooth move, Naruto. After a few coughing fits, he finally settled down onto the bed. The stirring in his stomach was there, lulling him to sleep. With one last sob, the cerulean auds slid shut and he gave himself to the darkness.

---

Sasuke scrubbed rapidly at the wall set out before him. It'd take him at least an hour and a half to scrub down his side even if he kept a constant speed, which he couldn't. With the human feature of exhaustion and one pestering Haruno Sakura, what he wished might have been an hour and a half of work turned into three hours, double what he wanted. He was just about to snap off Sakura's head when he realized he was done.

"I'm done with my side, Kakashi." He yelled up at the man sleeping on top of the wall. That said, he ran-well- walked fast in the direction of what he thought was Naruto's apartment complex.

--

Sakura stared dreamily at Sasuke's back as he left. She'd forgotten to ask him about why he had chosen to take Naruto out to lunch instead of her and when the subject was brought up in her mind, she just dismissed it as some 'guy thing'. That or Sasuke was shy, which was ubber-cute in her mind.

In the middle of her daydream, something was shoved under her nose, snapping out of her moment of shojo-ness. She nearly screamed when she saw two black caterpillars right in front her. And she did scream, even louder than she would have about if the two black things _were_ caterpillars. Nope, they just had to be eyebrows, eyebrows that belonged to that freak in the green skin suit. What was his name? Lee.

"Good evening, Sakura-chan! Lovely flowers for a very lovely lady!" Lee smiled, waving the bouquet of flowers under her nose. Sakura reached out and carefully took them, careful not to brush hands with the boy.

"Oh, thank you, Lee." She gave a flakey smile. Lee fell for it, too and was now nodding modestly.

"Think nothing of it, dear Sakura! You deserve flowers everyday, but no one gives you that kind of appreciation." He continued on, posing. Sakura winced.

'I won't think anything of it, I'm burning these as soon as I get home.' Inner Sakura huffed, reaching out and pulling Sakura's lips into a nervous smile. 'Don't give yourself away, idiot! Um...Hug him!' Sakura pretty much glomped Lee on that impulse.

"Thanks a lot Lee, but you'll have to hold these. I've got a lot of work to do." She mock pouted at him. Lee's smile faltered, and then came back stronger than ever.

"I have an idea Sakura-chan. I'LL do the work and then afterwards I'll walk you home." He nodded at the plan he'd come up with. Sakura was willing to play along.

"Oh, Lee, would you?" She asked. Hey, if he actually got the work done, at least Sakura would have the energy to walk fast and in front of him from then on. 'That's my girl!' Inner Sakura cheered, patting herself on the back. Lee picked up the rag from earlier, dunked it in the soapy water, then went to work.

-

Okay, I need the reviewer's help with pairings. No Yuri pairs, sorry, but I'll take a maximum of one more yaoi pair(I'd like the yaoi to be mainly focused around our SasuNaru) Het couples are wide open for suggestions. We've got Temari, Gaara, Kankuro, Ino, Sakura, Lee, Shikamaru(and if we must...) Iruka, Kakashi, Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba, and Chouji. My apologies if I've left anyone out of the Leaf main characters.

I'd like to make this fic so not only I enjoy writing it, but our readers will actually be on the look out for updates here. Please help me pair the characters off so I can waste even more of my life making up plots with Monster and having me go through the grueling process of editing (a nail-biting experience). Updates come as soon as I get some kind of thing to work with. Review, please!


	3. Ch3

More reviews! I have Monster working overtime to edit all these chapters- poor boy. Responses to your reviews:

**ghostninja85**: I am actually writing an AU fic for KakaIru(I'm a big fan of them too) I update once every week and then bang my head against the wall for an hour and drink a bottle of cough syrup to get more plots(Secret has been revealed!!!) so don't worry about the updates, they keep cominghere you figure out Redd has no life.

'**Yum'**: Okay, you actually asked a question so I must think(answers come in the order you asked them) Kakashi did not let Sasuke go after Naruto because he didn't want Sasuke trying to ditch the mission; he would have gone after Naruto too if the boy hadn't been running at breakneck speed...(in short, Kakashi was being lazy). Kakashi did not stop Lee because, as afore mentioned in the story, he was sleeping. Kankuro/Ino looks fun.

**Dreams raven**: That's alright if you don't know some pairings, other fic readers got ya covered .

**Can Hersey**: Let's see where the story takes us, eh? If I don't think I can handle all the pairings, I'll drop them until it's SasuNaru(though I wont until I'm just kind of really screwing up the story with it). Glad you like the fic! Thanks for the favorite. Wow, I went to look at your page and it seems everything is in Spanish (now I wish I could read more than just a little bit of it).

Thank you for the reviews everyone Remember, Monster and I basically live off of them so please keep up the support. A way to contact us directly is on our info page, so if you want to talk to one of us, hopefully you have YIM or AIM. If not, emails are good to (actually, they're sent to Monster's mailbox, but if you wanna say it's to me, he'll forward it...I hope. To the fic!

**Disclaimer (last time this is done**): We do NOT own Naruto, but we DO own the idea of this story. Blah...

-

"Rejection is Real"Ch3 by closet-monsters

Fire! Fire in the village! Naruto watched it from a bird's eye view, watched a whole family try to escape the inferno, screaming children. Suddenly, a mahogany shape darted in front of him; it looked like a stripped tree. Buildings converted to rubble before it. It was only when it smashed down on afore said family did he distinguish it not as a tree, but a humongous claw. The gnarled form flexed, making a crunching sound that would have made Naruto sick, should have made him puke up his guts. Someone was crying nearby.

'Do you like it?' Came a small hiss nearby him. Naruto tried turning his head, but he couldn't. He felt his stomach twist slightly as he began to move forward. Not on his own, mind you, he'd learned by now he was watching through another's eyes. 'I did. It was so...' The voice lapsed into maniacal laughter.

"Where am I?" Naruto called out. No reply came, only the forward movement. Out of the corners of his view he could see flickers of brown, though he couldn't determine a shape. Fire flickered below with hunger that couldn't be quenched.

'Once upon a time there lived a fox with nine tails. And he was so powerful that whenever he shook those tails, landslides and tsunamis would result' Said the hissing voice. 'Until HE came'

"Kyuubi!" Came a strong voice to Naruto's right. His vision swiveled until it fell on a large hilltop in the distance; the setting sun was in his eyes. Atop the hill stood a man, though his vision magnified slightly to see. A mane of gold fell over determined blue eyes; the man was clad in a coat of fire. "Come!"

'This is your past, boy, this is your future!' Screamed the voice. The man transformed to a black-haired young man with a gaze of crimson and a crackling ball of blue electricity in his hand. Suddenly, that man was gone too and Naruto was staring into the depths of great red-orange eyes, tainted with malice.

Naruto sat bolt upright in his bed, holding his head and shaking violently. The hand holding his head ran itself through his sweaty, blonde locks. "A dream." He whispered, still shaking but not as bad. He tumbled out of the bed and scrambled for the bathroom, looking in the mirror. There was the same Naruto, though a bit pale. Small insane laughter kicked up inside him, making his stomach clench. He ran to the toilet and was sick.

A small knocking came from his apartment door, causing the blonde to snap out of his stupor. The knock came again. "Okay, okay! Let me pick up my guts and swallow them back down, I think I'll need them." Naruto grumbled. He stood, flushed the toilet, and then walked towards the door. After lazily undoing the locks, he opened the door to see the one he was most pissed at.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say some, but didn't get a chance to. Naruto slammed the door in his face and, from where Sasuke was standing, locks were being clicked back into place.

"Naruto!" He barked, pounding on the door. When no answer came, he leaned against the door.

"Go home, you asshole! You dare show your face after what you did? I trusted you!" The blonde screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. He'd never let Sasuke see him like that, but behind closed doors he let them flow.

"Naruto..." Sasuke mumbled. "Please, it's not how you think. Let me explain."

'Naruto? Since when am I not 'dobe'?' Naruto thought to himself. 'And a 'please' too? Oh, Kami, he's lost his mind, hasn't he? Oh, all right...' Curiosity got the better of him.

"This better be good," Naruto growled, making sure he was loud enough for the Uchiha to hear. Wiping the tears away, he undid the locks once more and opened the door. "Explain."

"Can we not do this in the open?" Sasuke mumbled, shuffling his feet. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Why should I save you any embarrassment, asshole? You should have been on your knees just for me to open the door for you." His blue eyes twinkled; obviously, the fox was enjoying this. He took in the moment, savoring it, before moving aside. "Enter the mess."

How like Naruto, to have ramen cups scattered about the floor like miniature complexes for mold-monsters and dust bunnies. Wait; did he just see that pile of clothes move? While Sasuke was musing to himself, Naruto had made himself comfortable on the back of a broken-down couch.

"Alright, we're out, now explain."

Sasuke inhaled and then prepared himself to embark on the truth of the whole Sakura ordeal.

--

A sweaty, tired Lee grinned over his shoulder at Sakura. "All done. Shall we be off?"

'Oh jeez, he actually got it done!' Inner Sakura moaned. "Hey Lee, aren't you not supposed to be walking around since the Chuunin exam incident? Aren't you supposed to be having surgery?" Sakura asked, actually a little worried.

"Peh! I can fend for myself! I'm getting the surgery, but that doesn't mean I'll stay bed ridden!" He said, leaning a bit against the wall.

"They don't know you're out, do they?" Sakura arched a brow.

"Now I didn't"

"Lee...."

"No, I kind of snuck out," Lee admitted sheepishly. Sakura nodded.

"Mmm hmm. I think it's time we get you to bed." She said sternly, though Inner Sakura was throwing confetti about at the fact they'd wiggled out of another date with Lee.

"B-but what about-" Lee began, though he was silenced by two fingers against his lips.

"We're taking you to the hospital."

"Oh...okay..."Lee mumbled. 'Darn it, I lost the chance to walk Sakura home all because I'm cripple at the moment. As soon as I get better, it's one thousand pull-ups for me, one-handed!'

---

" So you see, Sakura was the one who kissed me and friggin' held me there!" Sasuke was explaining. "I didn't want her to kiss me."

"Uh huh," Naruto mumbled, eyes narrowed in disbelieve. "Yeah, like you didn't like a hot girl kissing you. I can't believe you kissed her right in front of me and gave me a lecture yesterday! You're a hypocrite, Uchiha."

Sasuke twitched. He had just told the truth and still the blonde didn't believe him. "Kami, Naruto! Are you so dense? I don't like Sakura because I like you!" He growled, just wanting to throw something at the other.

"Yeah, whatever Sasuke... What?" Naruto did a double take, blinking those big baby blue eyes.

"You really are dense! Okay, I'm gay Naruto. Sasuke is to gay as Naruto is to ramen-obsessed!" He gestured to the scattered ramen cups. "I like you, Naruto, okay? Dobe."

Naruto's face screwed up, like the fighting emotional responses were squishing his face. Kyuubi was cackling; he was so fed up with that fox. "Get out!" He screamed, clamping his hands over his head as he began screaming at the demon.

Sasuke winced, running for the door. He thought the blonde was yelling at him, though what was he expecting, for it to end up like a make-out scene from a book? Stupid, stupid!

He ran outside and blindly down the steps to the street, not minding the black hair in his face. He just had to get home, had to sit somewhere and think of this. He chose a tree by his house. The sun was setting.

----

Gentle shaking brought Kakashi from his slumber. Through hazy vision he saw a young brunette man staring down at him; looking closer he identified a small scar across the man's nose.

"Oh, they've sent an angel to wake me up." Kakashi mumbled through a yawn. Umino Iruka flushed red at this comment, even if it was cheesy. "What do you need, gorgeous?" He continued, patting the other's hand.

"Stop that," Iruka blushed, slapping his hand off. "I'm not letting you off the hook that easy. Sleeping on the job?"

"Shouldn't you be grading papers now?" Kakashi asked, sitting up and making sure his mask and makeshift eye patch were still in place.

"I finished those hours ago. It's ten o'clock, Kakashi." The brunette replied, crossing his arms. "And you were late for dinner, as usual."

"Oh, I was looking forward to it all day!" Kakashi put on a fake moan. "I was late because-"

"Save the excuses, Kakashi, I caught you." Iruka mumbled, sighing. The silver-haired Jhounin reached out and wrapped his arm around the Chuunin's waist.

"I'm sorry, Iruka, really." He said, nuzzling the other's neck. Iruka shoved him away.

"Are you nuts? Not in the open." The teacher scolded, looking around for any signs of spectators. "You're lucky no one saw us."

"It's ten o'clock," Kakashi replied, grinning beneath his mask. He kind of liked seeing Iruka mad; it was cute. "Naruto ran off from the mission today."

"What? Why?" The brunette was all over him now, shaking him by the shoulders as if that'd help the information pour out faster.

"Oh, girl troubles." Team 7's teacher waved the issue off dismissively. "Sasuke tried to run after him, but I stopped them. Couldn't have both of them gone and have Sakura do all the work; it would have taken forever."

"Lazy... Sasuke?"

"Even though they fight a lot, those boys are closer to each other than anyone else here... Accept maybe you, Iruka; you get Naruto free food."

"That's not what it was all about!"

"Hn. Perhaps not; Naruto will get over whatever he's upset about, he always has." Kakashi replied. "Now, may I escort you home?"

"Only if you give me a kiss goodnight." Iruka replied, a bit deviously. Kakashi looked surprised, which gave the other all the more pleasure.

"You read my mind." The scarecrow grinned, though the dolphin knew better.

---

"Ugh, how stupid." Sasuke mumbled, raking a hand through his raven black locks. "Why would I expect any different treatment?"

'Maybe you thought because of all the girls that flocked to you, the kitsune might do the same,' chuckled an inner voice. Sasuke itched at the curse seal branded on his neck irritably. Naruto had his fox and Sasuke had his snake. 'It seems rejection is real, even for an Uchiha. He doesn't want you, come to me. I want you.'

"Leave me alone," Sasuke mumbled, trying to block the hissing voice of Orochimaru. He thought of Sakura and Naruto bitterly, then scowled when the image of his older brother flickered across his mind. A sound woke him from his thoughts, making him glance upwards at the night sky. He was just in time to spot four shapes against the moon before they fell onto the tree he perched on.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke mumbled, looking at each one. One of them was huge enough to rival Chouji's gut; this one was practically bald with a few tufts of orange hair. One of the freaks had six arms and the other to appeared to be girls.

"The four sounds. East Gate's Kidoumaru," The six-armed freak spoke first. The tubby one spoke up next.

"The same. The South Gate's Jiroubou."

"The same. West Gate's Sakon." Spoke one of whom Sasuke thought to be a girl.

'Sakon is a boy's name. I must have been mistaken... Is that me or does he have another head?' Sasuke thought to himself.

"The same. North Gate's Tayuya." Spoke the last, the real girl of the group. Then they were gone, but Sasuke was on his feet and prepared now. He dodged blows from the spider-freak's many fists and leaped over him, kicking the two-headed guy in the chest. As soon as the fat Jiroubou made his move, he tossed both him and Kidoumaru into the two others trapped in front of the trunk of the tree. They all hit each other, but in a puff of smoke they returned to their true forms; logs.

'Shit,' Sasuke thought to himself, turning his head to the side to see the team right behind him. He was getting mad now. "You caught me at a bad time," He growled calmly, "If you want more, I won't hold back."

"Heh, stop yapping like a wimpy dog," Sakon smirked," Come on, I'll make a nice melody out of your broken bones. Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." And he lunged forward at Sasuke, calling back to his comrades, "I'll handle this."

Sasuke smirked; he had a plan. His hand tightened slightly on the good length of strong wire in his hand.

--

Sasuke had left because he thought Naruto was yelling at him, and now Naruto regretted it. Sure, he wasn't really comfortable with the fact Sasuke liked him, but he'd have liked to talk about it sensibly with his friend. His thoughts lingered towards another day when Sakura had confronted him and actually took him on a date.

"_I need to tell you something about Sasuke_." She'd said. Over their date on a bench she explained to him the curse seal Sasuke bore on his neck and Naruto had felt disgusted and told Sakura he'd met Orichamaru up close. She'd frowned, what he'd said made her mood worse.

"_Don't worry, Sasuke wouldn't give into a freak like Orichimaru_." He'd replied with that big, Cheshire-cat grin of his. It made her happier. And like that, Naruto forgave Sakura of all her conniving because, he believed, where there were all her bad qualities there was also some good. But the truth was he didn't know what Sasuke would do, but he was hoping for the best. Fuck what Kyuubi said.

-

That's the end of that. Almost didn't make my own deadline in typing everything up. Reviews please! I know I'm nowhere close to it, but when I get to the 100 review mark, I hope that person will have a messenger or email of some sort, as a free fan fic from me would be in line, no matter what genre it is. Hope I'm not disappointing too many people o.o BTW, the KakaIru in this fic might not be kept, I was kind of just doing it for the fangirl out there wave to ghostninja But if the masses vote to keep that pairing in, it shall be done ;


	4. Ch4

Oh, this took forever to get up. Sigh Your reviews below.

**Hogo-chan**: Geh, you're welcome. ; Oh, I know, Naruto's being a brat as usual. Don't mind him, I promise it gets better.

**Yum**: Yes, Sasuke thinks Naruto has rejected him. I'm sure you'd think so too if you didn't know about the Kyuubi and he just started yelling 'Get out'. Remember, only the grown-ups and some of their kids knew Naruto was the demon's seal. Therefore, Sasuke wouldn't know about it. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

**inu's-girl-forever**: xD Sasuke doesn't speak fluent Blonde dodges objects thrown by blondes but he seemed to get through to our favorite ramen-eater.

**Kyuubi-kun**: Oh, you will see more SasuNar, but not 'till later chapters. BTW, thanks for signing the review and keep up the good work with those fics stalks

**ghostninja85**: I promise to keep it updated if you promise to keep writing me reviews :3

For those who did not understand the endings: ; All right. Before Sasuke ran off to go find Orochimaru, Sakura asked Naruto out on a date to explain Sasuke's curse seal (remember, when Orochimaru gave him the curse seal, Naruto was not there.) Refer to the manga if you are unsure about this(I left out the fight between Naruto and Sasuke). It should be right before chapter 180. Not up that far and stuck with Shounen Jump? Let me introduce you to and You have to sign up, but it's free.

-Warning- This chapter of RIR contains Sakura bashing.

-

"Rejection is Real" Ch4 by closet-monsters

"We'll be waiting for you, Sasuke." Came the voice of Sakkon.

Sasuke sat with his back against the wall, strength draining from him as quick as the blood drained from his busted lip. He didn't have the will to get up and fight Sound's best ninja, much less the power. Understanding was not in his grasp.

He'd been clever, but his opposer had been better. The wire trick he'd used hadn't been enough for the two-headed one. And now Sasuke was mad at himself for letting his defeat look so easy to the observers that now snickered in the shadows.

For a moment he thought he would die; they had the power to do it. But no, they'd simply left him broken and stinging with pain. Damned curse seal; it'd sucked up all his chakra.

'Time to pick yourself up, Uchiha, and it's time to get going.' He thought grimly to himself. Slowly, he rose to his feet and step by careful step made his way to his house, mentally thanking Kami the fight had happened so close to it.

He pulled the backpack he got for his birthday out of the closet, fighting off the dust bunnies that had recently taken residence over the thing. He'd never thought he'd use it; after all, if was a present from Sakura. Only the important things were thrown into that backpack, such as a change of clothes and as many weapons as he could fit into it.

A small black object caught his eye and he wandered over to pick up the diary. It was plain black, the red and white fan marking it as his. A faint smile flickered to his lips, thinking about all the things he'd scribbled down in there. Goals, secrets, and things that you would never think Sasuke would be stupid enough to write down.

Yes, anyone who got his or her mits on that diary would surely have a good laugh, then ruin the Uchiha's social life forever. Not that it mattered; he was leaving.

"You're such an idiot," He told himself, "For ever thinking anyone would bow to your whim, for believing you might have a chance with someone who might actually understand. Ha!"

With that, he threw the book across the room, letting it lay in the darkened corner it fell in. Hoisting the backpack onto his shoulders, Sasuke let out a small sigh before beginning to leave and yet another thing caught his eye. He stared at the object for a moment, then picked it up and pocketed it. Then, he was off.

Uchiha Sasuke was in anything but a good mood, and he was looking for someone to break. His prayers were answered in the form of a pink-haired kunoichi.

--

Tonight was the night; it had to be. Hyuuga Hinata wandered the dark streets like a frightened child, but she knew her mission. Naruto would be alone tonight, and every night after that. Why she had chose ten o' clock was anyone's guess.

Her eyes were hidden beneath her blue-tinged hair, hiding the pearl-like gaze from the few onlookers on the street. She climbed the steps to his apartment and lingered before his door. Talking to Naruto was never easy.

What if he was asleep? She didn't think she could take getting yelled at from the blonde. And what if, if he was awake, he looked at her funny? After all, what lunatic under 18 comes to visit at ten o'clock without the thought of borrowing money in their head? Hinata with a crush, that's who.

She reached up to knock on his door, but those negative thoughts came flooding back into her mind. Oh well, she could try again, right? At an earlier, more reasonable time, of course. She turned to walk away when the door suddenly opened and a stream of hot water shot out and soaked her.

"Oh my god, Hinata?" Came the startled voice of Konoha's most memorable prankster. "I am so sorry. Hinata? Does'nt that water burn? You're steaming..."

True, Hinata was steaming. Her back was still turned to the door, where Naruto stood in only a pair of boxers and an empty bucket in his hand, so of course he didn't see the bright red she'd turned.

"Come in, Hinata, I am so sorry. I'll go see if I have anything you can wear." Naruto continued on, dropping the earlier subject and dashing into the confines of his house, calling over his shoulder. "Sorry for the mess."

To Hinata, his place was all she'd made it out to be. Ramen cups and tea can littered the floor; the only thing that looked clean was the tile in the kitchen, which Naruto had just mopped and thrown the dirty water on Hinata. There was a window he could have dumped it out, of course, but Naruto was always used to throwing the water out the door and over the railing that faced the streets.

She stood there, watching as he ran from one place to another, accomplishing mnothing, finding nothing. Hinata twiddled her thumbs, bit lightly down on her lower lip, and shuffled her feet. Naruto made her s nervous, as everything else did.

"Naruto-kun, I could just take off my jacket." She whispered, which wasn't heard over the crunching of cups and cursing of Naruto. Finally, the blonde brought her a bright orange shirt, stuffing it into her arms and gesturing in one direction.

"Bathroom is over there, go and change." He told her, then apologized for the third, fourth, and fifth time of that night. The Hyuuga did as she was told, wandering off to the bathroom while Naruto went and locked his front door.

When she returned, Naruto had himself stretched out on an old couch, still bare-chested. When he saw her in his bulky t-shirt, he gestured to the armchair in the corner. She sat down.

"Sorry about that, Hinata-chan. I was mopping the floor and I didn't think anyone was out this time of night, so I just tossed out the water. What were you doing out there anyway?" He asked, propping his chin up on his fist, cyan eyes studying her.

She stared back at him; eyes devoid of color or the emotion normal eyes could produce. "I-I-I came to s-see you, Naruto." Hinata stuttered, mentally cursing herself. Must she always stutter?

"Oh?" Some emotion she couldn't describe flickered in his eyes. "What for?"

Before he could answer, he spoke again.

"Ya know? Something has been eating at me all day." The blonde mumbled, smile collapsing into a small frown. Hinata thanked Kami for a way out.

"Tell me about it?" She asked quietly, but she heard him.

"Well," He began. "This girl came to see me earlier and... I think I said some things I shouldn't have said and now she's probably upset and hates me now."

Hinata felt something like anger burn her insides. "Oh?"

Naruto was lying through his teeth and he loathed it. But what should he do? Tell Hinata a boy had confessed his love to him? What would that do for his image? It'd ruin it for sure; not that it could be too much worse off, though.

'And it wasn't just _any_ boy,' He thought to himself, "It was Sasuke."

Whatever that meant.

"Yes," Naruto continued, now picking at the couch fabric with his fingers," She came in and told me she loved me. That would usually be right, but because of who she was, it was so wrong. I guess I showed that in my face. I began yelling at myself and she thought I was yelling at her. I really wished I could have talked to her, then maybe she wouldn't have been so mad at me." He sighed.

"I see," Hinata replied quietly, nodding, "I think she would understand if you went and apologized to her. She can't be too mad at you if you're really sorry." A small sigh escaped her.

"Thanks Hinata," He smiled again. "Did you have something to tell me?"

"H-Huh?" She looked up at him, then quickly shook her head. "I should be going. I'll return this shirt to you, okay?"

"Don't bother, keep it." He replied, waving a dismissive hand. Naruto got to his feet and led her out, waving her good-bye until she disappeared into the darkness.

---

Her eyes studied him with a quiet knowing, she knew ahead of time he was coming this way.

"What are you doing, prowling around here so late at night?" He asked and a harsh whisper.

She bit her lower lip a bit. "I knew you'd be coming this way if you were going to leave. So I just waited here." Sakura replied.

"Go back to sleep," He told her gruffly, giving her one chance to leave before he started to get more angry. With that, he walked forward, ducking his head.

"Why won't you say anything to me?" She asked, her pretty green eyes now brimming over with tears. "Do you hate me?" This was asked in a soft whisper. Did he hate her?

At the moment... Hell yes.

He swiveled on his foot and stared at her harshly. "Are you blind, Sakura?"

"W-what?"

He shook his head, ebony strands wagging. "Deft too? Tell me Sakura, are you aware of those who pine for your attention?"

"Oh, you mean Naruto and Lee?" At that, she snorted a bit. "Idiots, really, both of them. But that's not the point; the problem is you're leaving. Please stay, Sasuke or... at least take me with you! I'll help you with your revenge; I'd do anything to help you. I love you with all my heart!"

"Isn't that precious?" He sneered. He had Sakura's heart in the palm of his hand, so it seemed. He savored it, this is what Naruto must have felt when Sasuke had confessed his own love. Then, he squashed the heart in his mind. "You don't know what love is, Sakura. Maybe you do, but you'll never understand me. I don't have time for your childish games or your inconsideration."

"Inconsideration? I care for you, Sasuke!" Sakura cried.

"And you can't see pass me; that saddens me and pisses me off at the same time. Don't you see that I don't like you? Why don't you actually go for someone you have? Naruto is more than sufficient for you, no, he's too good for you. Even Lee is too good for. You deserve to be alone for all you've done to them." He twitched.

"Did you even think of talking to him about forcing me into a kiss? Dont trouble yourself, I told him." A sigh now; letting anger out this way made him feel much better. "You really are an annoying, whiney, bitch."

He tried walking away, but she called after him.

"If you leave, I'll scream." She whispered, still crying. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he was standing behind her in a flash.

"I can't have you do that. Good-bye, Sakura." He pressed his fingers hard down on her pressure point and caught her when her knees gave out. She slumped in his arms, pink hair shading her peaceful features. He lay her on a bench, then disappeared into the night.

----

"Shit. When is he coming?" Cursed the eight-armed Kidoumaru poked at something soft with his fingers. "I'm tired of having to kill these scout-teams. They're no fun like Sand nins."

"Patience, Sasuke will eventually come to us." Spoke Sakkon, who stepped up and kicked the corpse of a Leaf Jhounin away from Kidoumaru's prodding hands. "Stop it, it's no fun to play with the dead."

Kidoumaru snorted, looking over his shoulder at the other two Sound, Tayuya and Jiroubou. Jiroubou stared right back at the spider-freak and gave a grunt, something he did quite often. Tayuya perched her flute between her fingers, nimble digits dancing around the instrument made of bone, but produced no sound.

"I don't understand this, Kimimaro was so much stronger than him. He could beat you with only one hand, Sakkon, yet you kicked that boy's ass as simple as crushing a daisy." Kidoumaru went on, receiving a small glare from Tayuya for breaking her concentration.

Sakkon simply gave him a flat stare. "Yes, but Kimimaro is _dying_," he reminded his comrade, "And there might be some possibility that I just might have gotten better."

Kidoumaru waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, pity he has to go; he loves Orochimaru so."

"Oh, look there," Tayuya whispered, cutting off the boys' conversation and getting to her feet at the same time. The three males looked, and low and behold one shadow pronounced itself from the others, moving smoothly and efficiently under the moonlight.

Only once did the figure lift his head to them, pale features illuminated as well as the bloody red eyes. Tayuya shuddered and put her flute away, following as her teammates as they made their way down the hill they had stood on towards the youngest Uchiha brother.

"We've been waiting on you, Sasuke-sama." Purred Sakkon, lips drawn into a tight smile to Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke grumbled, though he knew they'd be there.

"When we left our village, you were assigned to be our leader," Sakkon explained, "Please forgive our rude welcome."

"I don't care about that. Let's get out of here." He responded in a light growl. Yes, away from here, away from Naruto and the annoying fangirls. Away from childhood memories of...Itachi.

"Now it begins."

"So it does," Was whispered after the five had made off into the forest. Lazy emeralds surveyed the scene under rings of black and a mane of red hair. Gaara of the Desert was pleased with the sight before him.

Not because it was amusing to watch the Sounds from a close perimeter -along with his older siblings- but because he was right. He wasn't always right, mind you, niether in actions or thoughts, but he was right about this. It pleased him almost as much as soaking up fresh blood into his sand did.

"What do we do?" Asked the blonde Temari, who shifted the weight her large fan from one shoulder to the other.

"We follow them, what else?" Kankuro smirked, giving a cat-like smile beneath his purple markings.

"No," Gaara told him, causing the puppet master to unconsciously sink into himself. "We follow the team headed after them tomorrow. Why should you go racing to your death when it's really none of your business in the first place? Atleast wait for those given the mission, don't do the work for them. We are simply here to repay a debt."

"You care if we're killed?" Temari asked him, surprised.

"Care to find out?" Gaara asked, voice a little too thick with saliva...or was it blood? The eldest genin could see the sand begining to rise from the gourd on his back and gulped. Kankuro almost backed away, but Temari caught his arm. Walking away from a predator was walking into a swift death.

A throaty chuckle escaped the sand manipulator, and then the sand was gone. "I'd rather not have to put up with two more annoying sacks of meat. Besides, I've gotten used to you being there and you are not worth my time.

For once, the two were glad they were not worth any time.

-----

"You better eat all of your breakfast, too." The stern woman told the boy who was looking like he was about to pass out in his eggs. "And your father has a mission as of today, so there's no time for training this morning."

"Yeah, yeah.." Mumbled Nara Shikamaru, now taking a bite out of his sausage.

"One 'yeah' is enough," She growled. The doorbell rang, interrupting whatever next she might have said.

'Saved by the bell,' thought Shikamaru, chewing thoughtfully at a strip of bacon, 'What a nag...And it's early too.' His line of vision landed on his father, Shikato, who was pushing his empty plate away and leaning back in his chair.

"Hey, dad," He whispered to the man behind his hand, "Why'd you marry mom? She's scarier than Asuma-sensei in a tutu."

Shikato patted his stomach thoughtfully at that. "Well, your mother has her happy and cheerful moments at times, I guess that's why." He replied.

Shikamaru gave his father a flat stare. "That's it?"

His father chuckled, inwardly resisting the urge to strangle his own flesh and blood.

"Shikamaru," His mother called sweetly, poking his head around into the kitchen, "There's some messagers from the 5th here to talk to you."

"Nani?"

----

"What?!" Naruto shouted, spittle coating Shikamaru's unchanging face as he spoke. The blonde was now in a pair of pajamas with a cap that looked like it was about to swallow Naruto. Shikamaru tried not to laugh at the sight, as it was funny to look at.

'That bastard!' Naruto cursed in his mind. 'What the hell is wrong with him?'

'It's all your fault,' Hissed another voice in his head; Kyuubi.

'You shut up, damned fox.' He told it. 'It is YOUR fault.'

Shikamaru shifted boredly from where he was, lazily leaning back on the apartment's railings.

"So I'm one of the elite ninja you chose?" Naruto asked, eying Shikamaru suspiciously.

"That's right." Shikamaru replied, crossing his arms. "So, get dressed and come on."

"You got it." The blonde smiled meekly, dissapearing into his apartment and reemerging in his usual, orange apparel. The Nara then led the boy to their next house.

"Chouji! Come on, get ready." Shikamaru sighed at his teammate, who was now stuffing his mouth with potato chips.

"I thought you said we were rounding up the best nin to go on this mission," Naruto commented over the shadow manipulator's shoulder.

"I've known Chouji for a long time, so he's easiest for me to work with." He gave Naruto a challenging stare, as if daring Naruto to back-mouth him. He didn't, so they left Chouji to get ready while they went off to get Hyuuga Neji.

Hinata peeked out from the doors of the Hyuuga household, blushing when she saw Naruto. She quickly disappeared back into the house, calling out her cousin's name. Neji looked up at her from the scroll he'd been reading, giving her a scrutinizing look.

"He's here, isn't he?" He asked, seeing the blush tinting her cheeks. When she opened her mouth to reply, he just cut her off by waving a dismissive hand. "We will speak of _that_ when I return."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, whispering her good luck to him when he passed. He didn't show any signs that he'd heard, but she knew he had by the way his lips twitched ever so slightly, how his walk paused for a millisecond before carrying on much more strongly. Hinata hid a smile behind her hand.

"The Hyuuga house would not like to participate in buying Girl Scout cookies this year." Neji said, now appearing at the door. Naruto fumed.

"Very funny, Neji, but we-" Shikamaru started.

"You need my help in going after Uchiha." Neji finished. Naruto gaped, to which Neji gave him a bored gaze. "News spreads fast, especially to those of higher class."

"Well this is what I get for trying to take a walk early in the morning," Commented a voice from behind the shinobi on the street. Inuzuka Kiba sighed, patting the small puppy that trailed at his heels.

"I also know what is going on," Said Lee, who had snuck out of the hospital again to wander; the rest of them ignored him.

"So are you in or out?" Naruto asked, giving Neji a small glare.

"I'll come," Neji replied, "And save myself from that baby of a Jhounin. All he talks about is Lee now; we've never had time for training."

"And you, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked the dog-boy over his shoulder.

"Count me in," He grinned in reply.

"Alright then, to the front gates."

---

"The team is assembled at the front gates, Gaara." Kankuro reported, carefully approaching the insomniac of a brother that sat on a tree stump. The red-head glanced up at him, the kanji on his forehead wrinkling ever so slightly.

"Where are they headed?" He asked.

"My guess is towards the Sound region," Kankuro replied.

"That's smart, Kankuro. They're headed towards the West," Temari suddenly appeared from the surrounding forest, fan tucked under one arm. "At least, that is where Uchiha and the Sound nins are headed."

Gaara smirked approvingly, but didn't turn to look at her. Kankuro folded his arms and spat on the ground.

"We'll be following them, then. Once again, stealth is an issue," Mint green eyes stared towards Kankuro. "If one of us were to give ourselves away at inopportune moments, I'd have to...quiet them."

Kankuro gulped, seeing a creepy smile spread across his younger brother's face. Temari tactfully remained silent.

--

She'd told them a lie, of course. Telling those messengers the truth of what really happened with Sasuke would be to her utter humiliation.

So she lied, and now she was standing there listening to Shikamaru discuss tactics with the gathered genin team. Sakura sighed.

"Wait!" She called out. Naruto's head turned at her voice and he was over to her quickly.

"Sakura, I-" He began, but was cut off by Shikamaru.

"So, Sakura, even you couldn't convince Sasuke into staying? That means we'll have to take him by force if we must." Shikamaru commented.

"Naruto, please," Sakura whispered, tears now running down her cheeks, "You're the only one who can bring him back. Please, bring him back."

"You really like Sasuke, huh, Sakura?" Naruto smiled. Sakura blinked. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back, I promise." The blonde then gave a thumbs-up sign.

'He knew. Oh Kami, he's known all along!' Sakura bit her bottom lip. "Thank you, Naruto."

He grinned and then turned away, taking off with the group into the forest. Lee drew near now, smiling comfortingly at Sakura.

"It's okay, Sakura. Naruto gave his nice-guy pose; he'll keep his promise." Then he gently wiped away one of her tears, smiling. Sakura sniffled and hugged him around the neck, beginning to cry incoherencies in his ear. Lee didn't seem to mind at all, even though he thought another of his ribs might be snapping. He gently gave her a pat on the back.

-

Dear God, it took me forever to get off my butt and write this. It almost took a month o.o The second chapter of Don't Pick Up comes out Friday (yes, I've already typed it up) and I am sorry if I left anyone out of the reviews, you will be included next chapter. Thank you for your patience, everyone; at least it's longer, yes?


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